Dirk Kuyt Player Thread

[Brighty 7]

I thought dirk kuyt looked really quick and powerful wen he came on against west ham

what does everyone alse think about kuyt and the game???

[smigger15]

Thought he looked very promising, and never looked like he was on his debut, him and Stevie seemed to have is sussed already and I was impressed by his vision and his awareness and his ability to be in the right place at the right time.  Looking forward to watching him in action again, bet Rafa will start him against the blue sh*te.  

[reu01]

brilliant game, brilliant signin, looks very good and a great futere ahead ov him at anfield.. I cnt wait to see him develop thru the next couple ov years.. he will become a class striker.. because he's young theres alot 4 him 2 improve on.. which cud see him be 1 ov the worlds top strikers

CONGRATS DIRK KUYT

[fanatic dee]

I thought Kuyt was excellent today. He always found space, linked up play well and was n't afraid to have a pop as he showed with his first two touches.

He looks as if he has all the attributes needed for a modern striker, dribbling ability, pace, power and he is strong in the air. His Anfield career has got off to a great start and hopefully his first goal will arrive quickly.

I should mention another star performer today who grabbed his first goal for the club, Daniel Agger what a strike! Looked very solid at the back also and had the ability to step out from the back when he felt the need.

Good day and a lot of positives.

[redlozells]

kuyt looked like e can handle himself in the pship.....only thng lacking today was a goal...but I am sure that will come ...hopefully against the 4th side on merseyside

.....aggar reminded me of alan hansen on a couple of occasions when he went forward with the ball. if he turns out half as good weve got a potential wc defender on our books

[supermarkgonzalez]

he's been 50 50 on .tv,I think dirk has all the makings of a legend.
A  bold statement maybe, here goes  "my fellow reds,let me introduce,the new DALGLISH"    WALK ON DIRK.

[lfc_ash]

well put it this way if he can live upto his 72 goals in 102 app in holland we do have a new legend for the kop it was a shame he could of scored if that silly linesman n he also set up bellamy but offside again :<

WELL DONE DIRKY !

[rickywawa]

IN RAFA WE MUST TRUST.
I must confess, I . along with many other reds, were not keen on Dirk after seeing him in Germany; however I have learnt not to question rafa's judgement and once again I have been very impressed. He had style, vision, composer, power, accuracy and what seemed like tireless legs: he was everywhere.
 
I can not remember such a great red debut like the one Dirk had.

lets hope he doesn't turn out like Cloughie and Collymore who also had great debuts but rapidly went downhill thereafter.

Can anyone else remember a better debut in a red shirt?

[liverpaul]

the world cup isnt a very good place to scout for players there always seems to be a knee jerk reaction I remember certain players like diouf and phil babb who had great world cups then look what happened.

rafa has tracked kuyt for 2 yrs we nearly bought him before the start of last season but obviously it didnt happen. With the possible exception of josemi rafa wont spend money on players who he doesn't think will work.

With kuyt scoring someting like 70 odd goals in 100 odd appearances and with dutch players having a habit of doing rather well in this country I was looking forward to seeing kuyt play and was well impressed with the 35-40 minutes he had.

Looks like he is willing to work hard on the pitch he isnt afraid to stick his head in or shoot and doesnt mind a tackle and looks quite strong nice 1 dirk so far so good.

Does Robbie Fowlers debut count coz that was some start to a carreer 5 goals

[riise' boot boy]

very impressed with what I saw, hopefully he can build on that and score many goals in the future. looked like a striker who is devestated when he doesnt score which is just what we need

[giddy76]

I thought he was fantastic! He was on the pitch for how long - 15 -20 minutes? And he had 5 attempts on goal? Brilliant, just brilliant. Looks like he's settling into the team nicely.

[riise' boot boy]

more like 35 - 40 minutes

[rickywawa]

god had a sensational debut. I was thinking more of players that we had brought in form other clubs.

question is:

who has had the best  debut for the reds?

[Semple]

kuyt was excellent! very up for it and very confident! does maybe need 2 sort out his shooting from distance but looks quality!

Gerrard played well as always! defensively not great but thatl be sort out soon with carra coming back in! drop sami fo a cupl of matches an play agger! annoyed bellamy hasnt scored in the prem yet but theres always time for a hat-trick againt the scumy blues! YNWA

[Good old JC]

kuyt looked to attack... this is the differ in crouch... wen crouch receives the ball far back he looks back... kuyt looked forward to attack

[Jabba]

I am not one for overflowing with praise on the basis of one game...but..

I think Kuyt is gonna be a bit special.

He looks like he is going to be a constant threat up front.  When he gets the ball he looks like he has tunnel vision for the goal.

He will scare the sh*t out of some defenders.

I think we arguably might have the best strike force in the Premiership now.

It´s up to Rafa to get the best out of them all.

[Jabba]

Oh and there was some big headline on Die Telegraf (some Dutch newspaper) that I saw today with a picture of Kuyt.

Any Dutch speakers care to translate what it was about?  

It didn´t look dodgy but he was holding up some placard at Feyenoord - maybe it was after his last game or something.

My translational skills got as far as recognising ´Liverpool´in the text.!

[KopQueen]

Kuyt will be a hit at Anfield.  He put himself about on Sat and made was a threat to West Ham.  He and Stevie Glook like they are on the same wavelength already. Go Kuyt Go!!

Rafa will get the best out of him, straight up!

[Garcia10]

this guy is gona be great

[hound]

Jabba he was named Dutch player of the year so it must be something about that !

[redlozells]

Super sub, David Fairclough on the Reds first home game

After the game one player in particular was the main topic of conversation - Dirk Kuyt.
 
Despite failing to mark his debut with a goal, his effort and style made the right impression on everyone. After coming on for Peter Crouch he showed his eagerness to create a positive impact when he flashed a shot past the post with his first touch.
 
He obviously has the ability to get himself into goal threatening positions and hopefully it won’t take him long before he gets off the mark. He looks to have more to his game than being just a goalscorer, his link play was impressive and his vision to set up Craig Bellamy for the disallowed goal promises hope of an exciting strike partnership.
 
Rafa was quick to remain guarded about the win because while there were things to enjoy, there are still areas of concern. Last year defensively we looked at times unbreachable but at the moment we are giving away too many sloppy goals and not looking anything like as solid.
 
One benefit of the two week break will be to give the injured players some time to recover without missing too many games. The loss of Jamie Carragher and John Arne Riise on the first day against Sheffield United was a big blow.
 
Having to reorganise half of the defence just 30 minutes into the new season was a massive handicap, though it did give Rafa a chance to bring in Daniel Agger and give him a run in the side.
 
The Dane will feel the benefit of a run in the team. He looks impressive in possession and is always willing to come out of defence with the ball. Though it is presumptuous to compare to him past heroes, not since Alan Hansen have we had a defender who looks as comfortable with the ball at his feet. He doesn’t yet have a reputation for hitting the net with any regularity but after Saturday’s stunning effort he might have just reset the expectancy level.

[riise' boot boy]

I read somewher he scored 6 in 50 for bromby, for a centre back thats prolific

[Jabba]

I read somewher he scored 6 in 50 for bromby, for a centre back thats prolific

That is prolific.  He does look comfortable with the ball at his feet.

He might render our midfield a bit useless if he keeps running through them though!

[KingoftheKop]

I'm not one to make comparisons but if Kuyt does for us what Van Nistelrooy did for The Scum then we have bought a real treasure.

[koolkidda]

Just been watching the highlights of Holland's 3-0 win last night.
http://www.lfcreds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=897

Dirk Kuyt looks like he is going to be a lot of trouble for opposition defences.

Just before his goal at the end Holland have a corner, he challenges for the header with the keeper, and then watch him move and get in to a great position for an overhead kick on target.

He looks like an intelligent forward.  Roll on the Derby...!

[tonyg99]

Kuyt is an awesome player, continually provides good runs, will score and set up a lot of goals for us. I just hope that Rafa starts him against Everton.

Come on Dirk!

[koolkidda]

The guy deserves a start against PSV.

He showed enough in both Premiership games he played a bit part in.

Still can't believe Rafa didn't pick him for the derby.  I wonder what his theory was starting with Crouch and Fowler?

[koolkidda]

Interview with Kuyt from the official site

How good was it to win at the home of one of your biggest rivals last weekend?
 
It's always nice to win the derby. Everyone knows what happened last year and we really wanted something different this time. I'm really glad we beat them and I think we deserved to win. It was two penalties but if you look at the chances we had enough to score more.
 
Was that your best moment in a red shirt?
 
I think so. It was really important to score in the last minute and it was definitely one of the best feelings I've had so far.
 
Was it planned that you'd take any penalties on the day?
 
I was on the list together with Andriy Voronin and we decided between us that I would take them. I had the confidence that I'd score. I felt strong, I said this to Andriy and he said: 'Okay, you can take it then.'
 
Were you feeling the pressure as you stepped up to take that second penalty?
 
There is always pressure on a penalty, especially in really important games like this. The second one particularly was very strange and difficult as well. I knew the goalkeeper would be thinking about which way I'd go with the second penalty. The first one was good, so I went the same, though it could have been a little better. I was very pleased to see it go in.
 
It must have been a relief to get your first league goals of the season as well?
 
It's always important for a striker to score goals, especially in the league. Like you said, I hadn't scored so it's nice to be off the mark. I have to keep that going now.
 
Are you going to take all the penalties now?
 
We have lots of people who can take good penalties, like Xabi and Stevie, so you'll see other people taking them as well. I'd like to hog them all but the most important thing is to score, and if you always have the same taker it's easier for the goalkeepers.
 
Looking at your challenge on Phil Neville – were you surprised at the reaction afterwards?
 
When I saw it on TV I knew it was a bad challenge. By the time I was in the air it was too late to pull out but I never had an intention to touch him, you could see that on TV. It looks really bad but I never intended to touch him – if I had wanted to I could have.
 
Did you speak to him afterwards?
 
No, I was too busy celebrating!
 
You must have taken a lot of confidence into the Besiktas game – what went wrong over there?
 
I think we were really unlucky. We played quite well. The goal against us was unlucky but we had enough chances to maybe win 3-1 or 4-1. We controlled the game, maybe not for 90 minutes, but we controlled it. That was our best Champions League performance so far. The only thing we can do now is try to forget about the result before the next game against Arsenal because that's really big for us.
 
Liverpool had 28 chances on the night. As a striker do you look at that and feel disappointed?
 
Of course we feel disappointed but I think you have to say the goalkeeper did a good job. He made a couple of magnificent saves from Steven Gerrard. Sometimes you get the luck, sometimes you don't – that's football. But it's not good to keep looking back. We have to look forward because we are still in with a shout of reaching the second round of the Champions League. We have a good squad and have the confidence and belief that we can progress.
 
How do you rate your chances of getting out of a group in which you're currently bottom?
 
It will be really difficult but we have three games to go – we can still get 10 points and if we do that I believe we will go through.
 
No thoughts about the UEFA Cup just yet, then?
 
No. You still have to believe in the Champions League. They are difficult games but we are at home so it should be possible to do it against Besiktas and Porto. Then we have to see what happens in Marseille.
 
How big a blow would it be if we didn't progress, considering expectations at the start of the campaign?
 
It would be a big blow for all the players because we work really hard and we not only want to win the Premier League, we also want the Champions League. We all know what happened last year in the final and we never want that to happen again. We have to believe.
 
How easy will it be to forget that result when Arsenal come to Anfield on Sunday?
 
We just have to keep going on, but I don't think we played as bad as some people have said on Wednesday. We have the belief we can beat Arsenal, especially with the crowd behind us.
 
How vital is it you do win on Sunday if you're to mount a serious title challenge?
 
It is really important. It's still a long season but this game could take us to within three points of the leaders.
 
Arsenal are playing some terrific football right now – how do you go about stopping them?
 
I think we have to look at how they can stop us. Okay, they have a really good team with young, talented players. It will be really difficult but we also have a strong team and I'm sure they're not happy about having to come to Anfield. I think we showed against Everton that we're on the way back. The quality in the team will start to show.
 
There's been a lot of talk about Cesc Fabregas but who else do you need to look out for?
 
Van Persie is a dangerman but unfortunately for him he's injured. He's really dangerous for them, like Fabregas, but they have a lot of good players.
 
Van Persie is a friend of yours, have you spoken to him about the game?
 
Not yet because he's injured and feeling disappointed. Maybe I will ring him, see how he's going and see what he thinks about the game. Maybe he can tell me a few secrets about Arsenal!
 
Will you rub it in afterwards if we win?
 
We'll have to see, but I have the confidence we will win.
 
It was 4-1 last time they came to Anfield. Will that give you confidence going into this one?
 
We played well and I think we always tend to play well against Arsenal at home, but it's a different year.
 
You're still unbeaten in the league – how desperate are the players to keep that going?
 
As a professional and a Liverpool player you never want to lose – it is always painful. We have to keep winning and hopefully we can give them their first defeat on Sunday.
 
How do you assess our title chances from what you've seen so far?

Arsenal are doing a good job and also Man Utd are really strong this year, so there are several teams who can win it. We just have to win each of our games but I'm confident we can be really close. Everyone believes we can do it, you can see that in training every day. Everyone is working really hard to make sure we're there at the end of the season. The players have confidence - we believe we have the quality to do it.


Top bloke is Dirk. Always positive and loved the bit about being too busy celebrating to speak to Phil 'Keeper' Neville.

[donrafael]

Kuyt needs a rest. Along with Voro. Both need a confidence injection - would play them both versus Cardiff...

[U-Borat]

I'd actually play Babel/Kewell up front against Cardiff....